Improved percussio nxfuse  for explosive shells



J. A. CURRAN.

Shell Fuse.

No; 47,803. r Patented Ma 23, 1865.

E [a H L 5 1 l n: L -J Mime-5m,- 17:00am

spending parts.

i be used in rifled ordnance.

I of the shell is solid, and access to the maga- ITE JOHN A. QURRAN, on THE UNITED STATES ARMY.

" "IMPROVED PERCUSSlO'N EUSE. FOR EXPLOSl-VE SHELLS.

- T0 all whom 'it 'naty concern:

. Be' it known that I, JOHN A. OUBR'AN, of Thirty-Second Iowa Volunteers, United States Army, have invented a new aud'useful 1m provement in Projectiles; and I do hereby de clare that. the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable those skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying draw ings, forming part of this specification, in-

which- Figure l is an elevation of a shell containing my invention. Fig. 2 is an end view, 'sh0w-' mg the fuse-cylinder open, its cover having been removed. Fig; 3 is a longitudinal axial section of the projectile. Similar letters of reference indicate corre- A is arshell.v cavity or magazine, 0, forpowder, intendedto The forward part zine is had through the back part of the shell, which is perforated and turned out, as seen in the sectional figure, to receive the fuse-cylinder D. The center of gravity of theshell is forward of the middle of its length. The shell is grooved around its hinder end at y to receive a softmetal ring, which will be expanded by the pressure of the gases arising from the explosion of the charge, so as to fill the grooves of the gun.

The forward part of the shell has a groove, G, 'where the pointed end m'eetsthe enlarged diameter of the'rest of the shell. The bottom of this groove consists of three orlmore inclined planes, 0, b c, of different heights, declining successively toward the forward end of-the shell, as shown-in the drawings. Longitudinel grooves w are also made in-the bottom of the grooves G, cutting the said planes trans.

versely. The-bottoms of these grooves x also incline in the same direction with the planes or b c. A ring, d, of soft-metal, is run in the groove G and properly fitted therein, so as to occupy the forward portion thereof, about as shown in the drawings, the longitudinal grooves m preventing the. ring, when the gun is fired, from rotating in the groove G. The

rammer of the gun is to be constructed so as to embrace the point. of the shell and strike against the forward end of'the soft metallic. ring d, so that when force is applied to the rammer, to drive the shell into the gun, the ring ithwa pointed end, B, and a.

fspecification forming pa'rt of Letters Paient No. 7,803, dated May 23, 186i}.

is fired and the projectile is started, the inertia v of the ring at will cause it to slide still farther.

uponthe inclined planes of the groove and effectually fill the grooves of the gun, while at the same time the expansion of the gases behind the shell expandsthe ring n,which is also to be made of soft metal. The opening in the rear of the shell'communicating'with the magazine 0 is provided with a screw-thread, f, by means of which the fuse-cylinder D is fitted to the 'shelL- This cylinder is closed at each end by caps g and J,'which are secured therein by means of screw threads cut thereon and on the ends of the cylinderwithin. Theeap :9, furthermore, is

fitted with eii rr e which iii-{elects aw d which a percussion-cap is to be fitted. 'The nipple extends through the cap 9, and, being perforated, the 1 explosion .of' the percussioncap causes the powder in the magazine to ignite. The fuse-cylinder is divided into two parts of unequal length by a perforated diaphragm, 'w, the shorter part, 3 being of greater diameter than the longer part, and fitting a cavity made for itin the heel of the shell. A plunger, h, made solid and'heavy, is fitted withinthe cylinder, so as toexplode the cap, as hereinafter explained. The plunger has a disk-shaped head on that end which is nearest the nipple, for the double purpose of causing it to strike the cap withoutfail when it de-- scends, and also to form a bearing for a spring,

4', which surrounds its adjacent end That part of the plunger which receives the springthat is to say, about one-half its length- -is round and. the remainder is made square tofit the perforation in the diaphragm a, which is also square. 3' is a spring-detent of elbow shape,

which is securely fixed in the outer face of the diaphragm at, near its opening. Its elbow pro; jects horizontally away from the side of the plunger, and ithas an eye or slot out in it, as i seen in Fig. 2.

K is a pendulous lever, which is suspended in the sides of the enlarged part of the cylinder by means of its arms 8. O is a hook which projects downward from it in such a position as to take into the eye or slct of the springdetent. A notch, a, is cut on one side of the plunger atsueh a distance from its end as to ger and the inner face of the when the plunger is held by the detent in the permitth'e detent j to fall therein and hold the plunger up in the fuse cylinder, as shown. The pendulous lever K is so shaped as to permitthe plunger to pass up along its side, the

top of the plunger reaching nearly to the cap- J. The upper end of the spiral springi is compressed between the disk-head ofthe plundiaphragm :0,-

locking-pimp is withdrawn and When the shell has been fired, any concussion on its forward end will cause the heavy free end of the pendulous lever to be thrown forward toward the diaphragm :0, when its hook 0 will draw the spring-detent j out of the notch u-in the'side ofthe plunger, whose spring z will then throw it against the cap, the explosion of which will cause the powder in the magazine to become ignited.

I claim as new and desire to secure-by Letters Patent The combination of the plunger 71', spring 2', detent-spring j, weight k, and arm 0,. when constructed and arranged to operate as and for the purposes herein specified.

JOHN A. OURRAN. \Vitnesses:

M. RANDOLPH, S. Pnnr. RAWLE. 

